“I don’t know, Lyria,” Aertis said, leaning her head against her friend’s shoulder, her feet tucked up on the bench they were sitting on. “I agree that what Haribelle did was…” she trailed off, seeming lost for words.
“Ruthless? Cruel? Merciless?” Lyria said, glancing down at Aertis’s dark hair splayed over her shoulder.
“I was going to say unkind.” Aertis sighed, tilting her head against Lyria’s shoulder to look into her eyes. “But sure. Let’s go with ruthless. And it was. But even so, she didn’t do it to you. And if Bennah is so easily unraveled, maybe Haribelle has a point. About her being unsuited to be Luna Queen.”
“Probably, but why not let the process eliminate her naturally?” Lyria asked. “Isn’t that the whole point?”
“Like I said, I agree that it was ruthless.”
Lyria shifted
